Describing her work featured at the Lamar University 2011 BFA Thesis Exhibition, Chelsy Broussard starts cautiously: “I’ve been shooting photos of Barbie dolls in sets with fully decorated rooms with miniature items I’ve collected.”

But her work — which will be featured alongside 11 other students who have been preparing for this show their entire college careers — pushes things farther, using Barbie dolls to depict sexual themes.

The fact that Broussard’s work might first appear to be child’s play is appropriate. She says it all started there.

“The idea of Barbie dolls having sex … everyone does that growing up,” she said.

“When I first started doing these photos, it was for fun last semester,” Broussard said the day before the oral defense of her thesis. “I wasn’t doing it very seriously.”

Her main adviser, fine arts professor Prince Thomas, pushed her to take the work to a more serious level by exploring the psychology behind certain kinds of activities.

Each participating student is required to have a committee of three professors help guide them in the process of developing their thesis, writing a thesis paper and defending their work in a public oral defense.

The BFA show runs the gamut and includes controversial photography, a large class of skillful graphic designers and even large-scale abstract paintings of car wrecks that come across as “happy and chaotic.”

The chaos and controversy will be on display this weekend at the Dishman.